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Friday, 13 July 2012

Ten health myths exposed

•A firm bed is best for your aching
back

According to a firm belief, a firm mattress is the best nocturnal support
to alleviate back pain. However a randomized trial by researchers at the Kovac University in Spain assigned 313 subjects with chronic low back pain to
either a firm or a medium firm mattress to sleep for three months. The subjects
who slept on medium firm mattress were twice to report reduction in pain as
compared to the people who slept on hard mattress.

•Midnight feasts mean more mounds of
fat

This is a chief cause which is blamed for pilling on the pounds. But as
Swedish study involving 25000 patients proved that eating at night was not
associated with weight gain, but eating more than three meals a day was.
Ultimately the formula remains that (irrespective of the time of calorie
intake) if you take in more calories than you expend, expect to see your
waistline grow.

•Too much sugar causes hyperactivity

Kids running around in an over exciting fashion from one room to another
demolishing everything that comes in their way is something that no parent need
be reminded about .But it is not the sugar candy or the sugar drink you gave to
your child doing all this.Atleast 12 trials proved that it is all in
the mind of the parents.

•You should top up with 10 glasses of
water a day

It is mere exaggeration of a simple fact that you should drink adequate
amount of water not forcing oneself to pour in bottles and bottles

•Most of your body heat Is lost
through your head

It is just a pure myth because the amount of heat lost from the head is
equivalent to the amount lost from any other surface of the body .so next time
you think of wearing a cap to protect yourself from cold, please consider of
wearing sweater gloves and a pair of socks too.

•Hair and nails continue to grow after death

Okay, so this isn’t a health myth as such, unless we extend the concept to
the fantasy realm of zombies.Hair finger and toe nails require a
complex hormonal mechanism to grow which simply can’t take place after death.
The reason for this long held belief is that body undergoes dehydration after
death which leads to shrinking of its soft tissues creating the illusion of
growth of hair and nails

•Carrots will help you see in the
dark

Perhaps only a border line myth, this one. Carrots do contain a high
content of vitamin A, which helps in night vision. However it is not limited
just to carrots .it is also in milk cheese egg liver and other yellow veggies.

The connection between eating just carrots and getting a great night vision
comes from a British warrior of second
world war who downed many planes of Germans in the night .the story spread that
his success was due to the fact that he ate loads of carrots .so you are not
restricted to just carrots . You have a variety offood stuffs to satisfy your
taste buds and gain a nice night vision at the same time.

•And another one for the eyes

Reading in poor light conditions can certainly cause a temporary strain on
eyes, but this is exactly that- temporary. Normal eyesight returns as soon as
the eye is exposed to normal light. The catch here is that it causes temporary
headache which will itself compels one to turn on the light and read. So next
time you see somebody reading in dim light. Don’t worry he will not go blind

•Too much oily food causes spots

There is a natural tendency to correlate oily food consumption with acne.
But as we all know that the hormones along with other factors like hot humid
climate, stress, family history and reaction to some cosmetics lead to acne
formation. So next time doesn’t accuse the French fries, onion rings or deep
fried chicken for causing acne.

•Having dark skin protects you from
the sun

Definitely a myth which is appropriate for the region. if you have dark
skin it does not mean that you will be protected from the uv rays . The tanned skin is the dead skin and has more chances of carcinoma.
So next time you go out apply and SPF of at least 15 whether you are black or
snow white.